Lara steers West Indies home

Saturday 20 January 2007 00:03 BST

West Indies booked their place in the World Cup Super Eight with a six-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in Group D at Sabina Park.

Brian Lara's men followed up their opening triumph over Pakistan with a hard-fought victory in Kingston, Jamaica, which leaves Zimbabwe needing to win their final group match against Pakistan to keep alive their hopes of pipping Ireland to the second qualifying spot.

Set a target of 203 after choosing to field first, West Indies were always ahead of the rate and Chris Gayle (40) and Marlon Samuels (28) set a platform which enabled Lara and Dwayne Bravo to see their side home with 13 balls to spare thanks to an unbroken 75-run partnership.

The elegant Gayle struck three successive huge sixes back over the head of Tawanda Mupariwa as he dominated an opening stand of 73 in 17.2 overs with Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Chanderpaul fell to a slip catch by Vusi Sibanda off Elton Chigumbura for 21 and, without addition to the score, Gayle edged to wicketkeeper Brendan Taylor, who parried the ball for Sibanda to take a brilliant one-handed reflex catch.

Ramnaresh Sarwan gave a return catch to Anthony Ireland to fall for 12 and Samuels was caught at backward point off Mupariwa but Lara overcame a sluggish start to hit 44 not out, including the winning six, and in the process become the seventh batsman to score 1,000 World Cup runs.

He received useful support from Bravo, who struck two sixes in his unbeaten 37, although he was dropped in the deep on 32.

Earlier, half-centuries from Williams and Brendan Taylor helped Zimbabwe recover from 31 for three to post a respectable total of 202 for five.

They would have been in dire straights but for an 83-run partnership for the fourth wicket by Taylor, who struck a patient 50, and the 20-year-old Williams, who finished with a career-best 70 not out from 88 balls.